The high court on Wednesday refused to hear a petition seeking a stay on the fresh school recruitment process initiated by the state government.

Some of the teachers who lost their jobs for OMR manipulation and rank jumping had petitioned the court seeking a stay on the initiation of the recruitment process announced by the chief minister on Tuesday.

These teachers alleged that they had been barred from returning to schools till December 31 and would not be allowed to participate in the recruitment process,
for which the state government will issue a notification on Friday.

The school service commission identified 1,804 teachers as tainted after the Supreme Court on April 17 said that only teachers who “are not specifically found to be tainted” could return to schools till December 31 and draw their salaries until then.

The chief minister has said that the 15,403 teachers not found to be specifically tainted could participate in the fresh recruitment process to retain their jobs beyond December 31 and would be given an age relaxation and additional marks based on their experience.

Justice Partha Sarathi Chatterjee declined to hear the prayer and said: “Since the Supreme Court is handling the matter, this court has no jurisdiction to hear the case.”

On May 23, the Supreme Court dismissed five separate applications filed by these sacked teachers seeking a direction that they be treated as “not specifically tainted” and be allowed to return to school and continue till December 31.

An education department official said that these teachers were trying to disrupt the recruitment process.